SMC reduced debt

Chief Executive Officer of the Spicemas Corporation (SMC), Kirk Seetahal has announced a sizeable reduction in the debt of the state body in the past three years.

Speaking to reporters in St. George’s, Seetahal said that when he took over SMC the debt was $800,000 in 2015 but that has now been reduced to $500,000 in 2017.

CEO of SMC, Kirk Seetahal – the Corporation is working to reduce its debt

“I am delighted to say that throughout the hard work of the entire team and I do have a great team, a great Board of Directors, a great Chairman, a wonderful hardworking staff…we are now at $500,000 in terms of debt…”, he said.

According to Seetahal, the SMC continues to brain storm ways to cut cost to ensure the viability of the Corporation.

He believes that Carnival can be viable based on the amount of money that can be derived from sponsorship.

He recalled that “in 2016, we were half a million dollars short of sponsorship from 2015 and … had I had the same amount of sponsorship we would probably almost be debt free now”.

The SMC chief stressed that it is “a continuous work in progress” to bring the finances of the corporation under control.

“…We are always looking at how we can cut costs and how we can engage different things”, he remarked.

“So we are doing different initiatives to see how we can really put Spicemas on better footing,” he said.

According to Seetahal, last year was the first time that SMC ran the bar for itself “and anybody would know as a promoter, the bar is where you make most of your money”.

He also pointed to the need for the corporation to engage in more fundraising activities like a regional calypso show to help tackle the debt situation.

“…We should be able to have a regional Calypso competition here…doing different things that we can raise money for Spicemas but presently as we are, every time a little money comes in, it goes to pay a debt but I said (it is a) work in progress and I wanna thank my Board of Directors under the supervision of my Chairman and the hard-working team that we have at the Spicemas Corporation,” he said.

SMC has already taken the decision to move the August 10 Queen Show from the National Sporting Stadium at Queen’s Park to the less costly Spice Basket at Beaulieu.